A damaged soul from trauma or some other major life event can leave you feeling depressed and underwhelmed with life. The deeper the damage goes, the greater the impact it has on daily life, thoughts, and relationships. If you’re suffering from something that happened to you, or even from a spiritual crisis, you’ve come to the right place—this guide is for you.
Spirituality is one of the pillars of overall health. Even if you’re keeping your physical health in check and dealing with your mental health conditions, it can still feel like there’s a hollow spot in your heart and mind. Your spiritual health can even impact the other two pillars of health, causing a general spiral downward.
Today, we’ll cover four spiritual practices that you can use to help heal your soul and get things back on track. Keep reading—number three might just surprise you!
1. Daily Bible Meditations
Using daily Bible meditation for healing can be so effective and rewarding. Meditating on the Bible’s passages and lessons helps you better understand the word of God, and, therefore, better understand His plan for you. When things are at their darkest, it’s difficult to imagine that it’s all part of a plan. That’s why we meditate on the Bible. It brings us closer to God and helps us decode the not-so-obvious messages that certain passages contain.
Bible meditation isn’t overly-complex and doesn’t require any special rituals. All you need is a nice, quiet place to focus and a Bible. You can also use your prayer app or favorite Bible meditation app, where you can discuss the meaning of certain passages with others of the faith. Sometimes, you simply can’t decode the message alone, and that’s ok!
When your soul needs healing, turn to the word of God to help guide you back to happiness. You’ll find everything you need in the Bible; from inspiration and motivation to love and understanding and so much more.
2. Daily Prayer
Of course, we can’t forget about daily urgent prayer request when we’re talking about spiritual health. Prayer provides a sense of comfort for those of the faith. Not only can it help their spiritual self, but also their mental health. When things get tough, praying can help alleviate the stress and give you someone to talk to that actually has the power to make change in your life. Many people pray for good fortune, money, or success, but most people simply pray for a good life and happiness. You can pray for anything you want, but you need to be consistent.
Before you say “I don’t have time to pray”, think about it. You have 24 hours every day, and 16 of those hours (assuming you slept 8) are spent awake. If you can make time for TV, social media, and web browsing, you can certainly make time to pray! Pray before bed for a better night’s sleep, or pray first thing when you wake up to start the day off right. You can pray anytime, anywhere, and for any reason.
The important thing to remember with prayers is that they’re not always answered in the timeline or manner we hope for. Give yourself over to the mercy of God; your prayers will be answered. They just might be answered in a way you didn’t expect or didn’t exactly hope for. It’s all part of a plan, so be patient.
3. Create A Garden
Surprised? Believe it or not, there’s healing power in watching things grow and caring for them. You might feel this with your children or grandchildren, but for some, growing a garden is much more realistic. Maintaining a garden can do wonders for mental and spiritual health.
Start from a seedling. Put your energy and love into the process. Watch it grow and reach for the sun, the warmth, and the light. Feel its leaves change and grow bigger, watch its stem widen to support the weight of the plant. If you’ve ever grown a plant from a seedling, you know just how rewarding it can be.
Watching the life cycle can bring you closer to your own life, grounding you in the present moment. Everything grows, withers, and dies, and that’s just part of the process. What lies beyond is what we’re truly destined for.
4. Protect Your Space and Your Energy
Perhaps the most important practice on this list is to protect your space and your energy. What do I mean by that? It’s simple. Don’t put up with people, environments, organizations, or anything else that makes you feel less than yourself. If you have relationships that are abusive or unfulfilling, it’s time to move on. If you hate your job and it’s draining the very life out of you, it’s time to move on. It’s up to you to protect your soul’s health.
The people around us make such a huge difference in our lives, for good or for bad. Too many of us waste so much time on people who don’t care or have a selfish agenda in their mind. Protect yourself. Surround yourself with positive, happy people. Be happy. Be calm.
The Bottom Line
Sometimes, the soul needs a little healing to get back on track. These four practices will help you heal, grow, and become more aware of what you need to be happy and healthy.